Island king's cash cut off for letting drink-drive grandson hide in palace

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Island king's cash cut off for letting drink-drive grandson hide in palace
From Adam Sage in Paris

THE King of Wallis, a small South Pacific island that belongs to France, is locked in a stand-off with Paris after his grandson took refuge in the royal palace to escape an 18-month prison sentence for manslaughter.

King Tomasi Kulimoetoke is refusing to hand over his grandson, Tunghala, who was found guilty of killing a road- user in a drink-driving accident. And now Xavier de Furst, the French civil servant who administers the island, has cancelled the monthly €5,500 (£3,800) payment made by Paris to the 86-year-old monarch. He has, however, stopped short of sending gendarmes into the palace to arrest the 25-year-old.

In the latest twist to an increasingly acrimonious dispute, La Grande Chefferie (the great assembly) — the King’s council of ministers — has demanded the resignation of M de Furst and Francis Alary, the Chief Justice appointed by France. The French Government refused the request.

The dispute centres on opposing views of the law that should prevail on the 96 sq km (37 sq mile) island named after Captain Samuel Wallis, the British seafarer who discovered it in 1767. M de Furst cites the French Penal Code, which came into force with the 1961 treaty that gave Wallis and Futuna the status of French overseas territories.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1624942,00.html